When I began training for the priesthood, my first year, year zero in effect, was
spent in Spain at the English College in Valladolid. During the course of the
week the seminary chapel was closed to the public, but it was open for Sunday
Mass, and we used to have local people, either English or Spanish, who would
join us for our Mass in English. Despite the fact that the Catholic Church is
one all over the world, each country has its own local customs. Being English,
we followed the English custom for an Advent wreath, with three purple
candles, one rose candle, and a white candle in the centre. One of the visiting
Spaniards was intrigued by it, as their custom is to have four different coloured
candles, and the fourth candle is blue, for Our Lady.
Since Vatican II, we now have a three-yearly cycle of readings, but the Fourth
Sunday of Advent always mentions Our Lady: Year A’s Gospel covers the
dilemma that St Joseph had when he found that Our Lady was with child; Year
B is the Annunciation, and today’s Gospel for Year C is the Visitation.
Today we see some of the reasons why we, as Catholics, hold Our Lady in such
high veneration.
Firstly, the reason for all the honour shown to Our Lady is her connection with
Our Lord. But if we delve more deeply into today’s Gospel, there are also
some other resonances with various Old Testament heroines (that’s as in female
heros, not the illegal drug). Elizabeth’s words of praise, “Blessed are you
among women”, echo the prophetess Deborah’s proclamation of Jael as
“blessed among women” for slaying an enemy general in the Book of Judges
(5:24-27). In the book of Judith, Judith is praised as blessed “above all the
women on earth” for slaying another army general (see Judith 13:18). But Our
Lady is blessed, not for bringing about death, but rather life, and not just any
life, but He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
In this scene, Our Lady brought Jesus to Elizabeth and John the Baptist. At
Mass on Thursday, we heard in the Gospel the angel Gabriel telling Zechariah
that John the Baptist “will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his
mother’s womb” (see Luke 1:15). That is now fulfilled – today’s scene occurs
probably only about a week after Jesus’ conception, whilst John the Baptist is at
around six months’ gestation. Our Lord grants him the grace of the Holy Spirit,
and John leaps with joy. St John Chrysostom explains it this way:
“[John] has not yet left the womb but he speaks by leaping; he is not allowed to
cry out but he makes himself heard by his actions. ... The Lord is present, so he
cannot contain himself or wait for nature to run its course: he wants to break
out of the prison of his mother’s womb and he makes sure he witnesses to the
fact that the Saviour is about to come” (Sermon recorded by Metaphrastrus.
Quoted in The Navarre Bible. St Luke’s Gospel. Pgs 35-6.)
This act of sanctification takes place, and Elizabeth responds by witnessing to
what has just happened, and praises Our Lady.
Now that we have moved to the new translation of the Lectionary, one of the
things you might have spotted is that it translates things in a way to help us
make better links. It’s often possible, when translating, for there to be more
than one option as to how you put things. Previously, Elizabeth said: “Of all
women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fuit of your womb.” Now
it says: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb!”, making the link with the Hail Mary prayer even more obvious. And
going back a few verses to the Annunciation, whilst previously the angel
greeted Our Lady with “Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you”,
now it says “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” These first lines of the
prayer are direct from Scripture. The second half of the prayer is composed by
the Church, but flow logically from Our Lady’s role as Mother of the Lord and
Mother of the Church: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now
and at the hour of our death”.
Chronologically, at this point in time, the role of Our Lady is just getting
started. May she intercede for us, and bring Jesus more powerfully into our
lives too!
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk